The US State Department is promoting an initiative to verify voters' citizenship by opening passport files to state and local government officials, and possibly to some non-profit organizations. The plan was revealed in a notification document recently sent to the core members of the National Assembly. The plan is to include “voter qualification verification” in the State Council's official list of uses of passport service files and expand data disclosure targets to entities other than government agencies. Historically, the users of this type of data were mainly limited to domestic and foreign government agencies and public officials. The expanded powers will be in line with one of the Trump administration's controversial actions: calling federal files, conducting election fraud investigations, and assisting states in verifying voter registration lists. This move will allow more institutions to access this sensitive data protected by US privacy laws. The copy of the State Council notice obtained by the media did not specify which non-profit organizations are eligible to obtain this data. According to the administrative process schedule, the proposal will not take effect until after the November 3 midterm elections; in this election, the Republican Party needs to maintain its weak majority in Congress.

The US State Department is promoting an initiative to verify voters' citizenship by opening passport files to state and local government officials, and possibly to some non-profit organizations. The plan was revealed in a notification document recently sent to the core members of the National Assembly. The plan is to include “voter qualification verification” in the State Council's official list of uses of passport service files and expand data disclosure targets to entities other than government agencies. Historically, the users of this type of data were mainly limited to domestic and foreign government agencies and public officials. The expanded powers will be in line with one of the Trump administration's controversial actions: calling federal files, conducting election fraud investigations, and assisting states in verifying voter registration lists. This move will allow more institutions to access this sensitive data protected by US privacy laws. The copy of the State Council notice obtained by the media did not specify which non-profit organizations are eligible to obtain this data. According to the administrative process schedule, the proposal will not take effect until after the November 3 midterm elections; in this election, the Republican Party needs to maintain its weak majority in Congress.